I have to say amen to Karen's post on breastfeeding culture.
I see my area's bottlefeeding culture as the number one reason so many of my
moms wean early, supplement frequently, and give up at the least problem.
The fact that they have had 10-14 prenatal visits with me promoting
breastfeeding the whole way, and are encouraged and supported as much as I
possibly can during their hospital stay and well-baby visits just doesn't
matter as much as the fact that so many of them have never even seen another
child at the breast.  When grandma is talking about cereal at 2 weeks, dad
doesn't want mom to nurse where anyone can see her and feels bad that he
can't bond with baby and bottle, and all mom's friends tell her about losing
their milk at 6 weeks, or having to wean to take medication, I don't know
how I can expect anybody to successfully breastfeed!  Before I sound too
cynical, I do have moms who persevere through such situations, but they are
the exception, not the rule.  Just this week one of my patient's delivered a
baby boy and told me breastfeeding just seemed unnatural.  (The same mom
told me she though circumcised penises looked more natural!)  No one in her
family's known history has ever breastfed a baby (of course someone must
have, but even her 85 year old grandmother can't recall anyone.)  I find it
very difficult to promote breastfeeding in those kind of situations!
Jennifer Tieman
Family Physician
Mom to 3, and new baby #4 expected 5/31/03

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html